Governor signs 'red flag' bill into law

PORTALES — Roosevelt County officially made its opposition known the morning of Feb. 25, just hours before Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed the red-flag gun bill into law.

In a news release from her office, Lujan Grisham said the measure enhances public safety and reduces “the risk of mass gun violence.”

Senate Bill 5 will allow law-enforcement officers to “temporarily disarm individuals who present a clear danger to themselves or others in emergency situations. It is a proven-effective tool law enforcement officers can use to address gun violence in communities across New Mexico, a state with unconscionably high per-capita rates of firearm deaths and suicide,” the governor said in the news release.

The law “empowers law enforcement officers to ask a court in a sworn statement to temporarily remove firearms and ammunition from individuals who are threatening to harm themselves or others,” the governor said. “A court hearing on the emergency order must be held within 15 days, and the weapons must be returned when the order expires.”

Most of the state’s county sheriffs — in addition to local lawmakers — have opposed the measure, citing concerns it violates the Second Amendment.

The law “empowers law enforcement officers to ask a court in a sworn statement to temporarily remove firearms and ammunition from individuals who are threatening to harm themselves or others,” the governor said in her news release. “A court hearing on the emergency order must be held within 15 days, and the weapons must be returned when the order expires.”

Quay County Sheriff Russell Shafer previously expressed constitutional concerns about red-flag and other gun-control bills, and he shepherded a legally nonbinding resolution through the county commission in February 2019 that declared Quay County a “Second Amendment sanctuary county.” Quay County was the first county in New Mexico to pass such a resolution.

However, Shafer said in an interview days later with the Quay County Sun he was open to red-flag proposals if they reduced the number of suicides and protected the Second Amendment rights of gun owners.

About 50 people who crowded into the Roosevelt County Courthouse to see county commissioners formally approve a resolution opposing the red-flag bill voiced constitutional concerns about the red-flag bill.

The resolution was presented by Roosevelt County Sheriff Malin Parker and will send notice to the governor from “the citizens of Roosevelt County” expressing the county’s opposition to the bill.

“Senate Bill 5 is a very dangerous piece of legislation,” Parker said. “Due to the lack of due process in seizing someone’s property, it has tremendous potential for abuse by wronged or jealous loved ones or simple vengeance.”

Parker added the bill would do little more than bog down an overburdened judicial system with frivolous complaints and puts the liability of seizing property on the agency, board of commissioners and taxpayers. He also said the bill is a violation of the Second Amendment.

Parker read the resolution, which reiterates the county’s previously stated stance supporting the Second Amendment, including its decision last year to become a Second Amendment sanctuary county. Officials have said the stance is only symbolic, letting the governor know of the county’s opposition.

The commission made a few changes to the resolution’s language, replacing a line that would have the county manager be responsible for sending the resolution in favor of one of the commissioners and signing it “from the citizens of Roosevelt County.”

The commissioners voiced their personal concerns with the bill, commenting that the issue was one of mental health and stating the bill could force members of the Sheriff’s Office into a dangerous position.

The crowd voiced its support for the resolution, but no one came up to speak due to time constraints, and no one came up to speak in opposition of the resolution when prompted.

Commission Chairman Matthew Hunton suggested Roosevelt County residents follow up by sending signatures to the Governor’s Office in opposition to the bill.

QCS senior writer Ron Warnick contributed to this report.